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ESC Rights & Sustainable Development

ESC Rights & Sustainable Development

ESC Rights & Sustainable Development

 

Summary of the Day of General Discussion on the General Comment on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Sustainable Development.

On 24 February 2023, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights held a day of general discussion on sustainable development to inform the drafting of the forthcoming general comment on this topic. This day was an opportunity for the Committee to hear from various experts on the linkages between sustainable development and Covenant rights. 

The Committee began the process of developing this general comment in 2018 by drafting an issues paper, which was translated into four languages. Based on the findings of this paper, in 2021 and 2022 the Committee held five regional consultations, three children’s consultations and one consultation in Geneva. These consultations have provided the drafting group with valuable contributions on the content and scope of the general comment.


Held in a hybrid format, the day began with an introductory session from the Committee’s chair, Mohamed Ezzeldin Abdel-Moneim; an outline of the purpose of the general comment by Committee member, Michael Windfuhr; and a summary of the key themes from the preceding consultations from Megan Donald, research consultant for the drafting group. This was followed by four thematic panels. Each panel concluded with a question and answer session, allowing for input from participants in the room as well as those joining online.


The first panel was on the implications of sustainable development on key doctrines and state obligations. First, Sandra Liebenberg, former Committee member, spoke about the doctrines of minimum core obligations and progressive realisation, with a focus on inequality between individuals, groups and states. The Committee then heard from Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and member of the Club of Rome, who spoke about the limits of growth within planetary boundaries. Laura Santocoloma from Dejusticia then spoke about the link between maximum available resources and sustainability, introducing the notion of “maximum sustainable resources”. Finally, Aoife Nolan, Professor of International Human Rights Law and Co-Director of the Human Rights Law Centre at the University of Nottingham, spoke on the importance of mainstreaming children’s rights and integrating the principle of intergenerational justice.


The second panel was on the theme of sustainable development from different perspectives. The Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Mikiko Otani, started the panel by speaking about the forthcoming general comment on children and climate change by the Committee of the Rights of the Child. Filling in for Fons Coomans, Sandra Liebenberg then spoke about the Maastricht Principles on the Rights of Future Generations. This was followed by a presentation on climate change and economic, social and cultural rights by Judith Bueno De Mesquita, Senior Lecturer and Co-Deputy Director of the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex. Finally, Salma Zia, a member of the Coordination Committee of the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples Mechanism for relations with the United Nations Committee on World Food Security, spoke on indigenous peoples, peasants, pastoralists, and other people living in rural areas, including small-holders and family farmers.


In the third panel the links between sustainable development and the right to development, labour standards and poverty were addressed. The panel began with a presentation from Tim de Meyer, Senior Adviser in the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) International Labour Standards Department, about labour standards and collaboration in the UN system from the perspective of the ILO. Mihir Kanade from the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development then spoke about the link between the right to development and sustainable development. Finally, the Committee heard from Olivier de Schutter, Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights. His presentation was focused on demystifying the incompatibility between the transition toward sustainability and the combating of extreme poverty and inequality.
The final panel considered the implications of sustainable development for Covenant rights. First, Alexandra Xanthaki, Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights, spoke about the relationship between sustainable development, cultural rights, and science. The Committee then heard from the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, who presented on the right to an adequate standard of living with a particular focus on the right to food. The final presentation was on the link between sustainable development and the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, presented by David Boyd, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment.


Following this day of general discussion, the drafting group will work on the first draft of the general comment to be completed later in 2023. This first draft will then be made available to the public for comment. The inputs received will inform the revised draft of the General Comment No. 27 on Sustainable Development.
For further information on the process for the development of the General Comment and opportunities to engage with the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights you may visit the following website. 

*To watch the recording of the full meeting, click on this link: 19th Meeting, 73rd Session, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) | UN Web TV 

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Climate and Environmental Justice

We have advanced rights-based and gender-transformative transition frameworks through research that centres the lived experiences of women and marginalised communities on the frontlines of extractive energy policies, promoting climate and energy frameworks attentive to the social and care-related impacts of transition pathways. We have developed a clear vision for a gender-just transition, firmly rooted in gender and human rights norms, establishing both the legal basis and the direction for the transformative changes our planet and societies urgently need. In particular, the ‘Guiding Principles for Gender Equality and Human Rights in the Energy Transition’, a collective effort built through online consultations, an in-person workshop and multiple rounds of revision with activists, practitioners and experts from around the world, outline a transformative vision for reshaping global energy systems through a human rights and gender equality lens.

Our work recognises that the climate emergency is both an existential threat and an opportunity to reimagine societies built on social, gender, economic and environmental justice. We ground our advocacy in feminist and intersectional principles, prioritising the agency and perspectives of communities in the Global South who have contributed the least to the climate emergency yet face its most devastating consequences. Central to our approach is the understanding that energy is not merely a commodity but a fundamental human right; essential for dignity, health, education, work and the realisation of countless other rights. We challenge approaches to the energy transition that risk replicating the harmful patterns of fossil fuel extraction and, instead, advocate for transformative policies that ensure human rights and gender equality as central to building climate-resilient societies rooted in dignity, justice and planetary well-being.

What's next?

We will continue to challenge approaches that treat energy transition as merely a technical shift, instead positioning it as an opportunity to reimagine economies and societies rooted in dignity for all, with particular attention to communities in the Global South who have contributed least to the climate emergency yet are most exposed to its worst effects.

We will connect community-level evidence and the lived experiences of those on the frontlines of extractive policies to national reform and global norm-setting, breaking down silos between human rights, gender, and climate movements, and advancing a shared vision that recognises just transitions as not only fundamental to achieving climate-resilient and sustainable societies, but as transformative pathways that advance social and gender equality, redistribute power and resources equitably, and ensure that energy systems serve the public good rather than profit.

We will mainstream rights-based and genderjust transition priorities in key multilateral spaces (particularly, within the Just Transition Work Programme and the to-be-developed Just Transition Mechanism, within the UNFCCC) to guarantee that just transitions are advanced at all levels.

We will also translate our work, through strategic advocacy, into at least two concrete policy wins, whether promoted, adopted, implemented, or scaled, in priority countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, or Kenya), ensuring these policies align with human rights standards, centre gender equality, and reflect the needs and views of affected communities.

We will build momentum for the progressive recognition of the right to sustainable energy to shift dominant narratives away from purely extractive solutions that sideline gendered impacts, community participation, and Global South perspectives.

Economic Justice and Climate Finance

Our work has transformed the global discussion on fiscal policy in a more just, emancipatory and sustainable direction. Our approach has combined both high-level, expert contributions within decisionmaking circles, with bold, impactful work on narrative change with the general public.

We have been instrumental in the inclusion of human rights as a guiding principle of the future United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, a multilateral instrument with the potential of raising approx. USD 492 billion per year in public revenues currently foregone to global tax abuse. In the process leading to the ‘Compromiso de Sevilla’ decided at FfD4, we proposed and succeeded in creating a specific human rights workstream within the Civil Society Financing for Development Mechanism, which was critical to ensure that explicit commitments on the matter were included in the negotiating outcome. In a context of cutbacks in multilateral institutions, we have amplified the capacities of technical experts, providing rigorous technical support and leveraging our influence to ensure the enactments of groundbreaking standard-setting instruments, such as the 2025 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Statement on Fiscal Policy and Human Rights, and the first ex oficio hearing on the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights on Fiscal and Economic Policies to Address Poverty and Structural Inequality, leading to an upcoming thematic resolution on the matter. We have also bridged the silos between multilateral tax discussions and climate finance debates, promoting ambitious financing commitments to increase international and domestic resource mobilisation during COP 28, 29 and 30.

At the regional level, our engagement with fiscal cooperation platforms such as the Platform for Fiscal Cooperation of Latin America and the Caribbean (PTLAC), where we are member of its Civil Society Consultative Council, and the African Anti-IFFs Policy Tracker, for which we participated in the pilot mission in Ivory Coast together with Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), have been critical in cementing a growing engagement between tax administrations and ministries of finance with international legal experts, exploring actionable and transformative initiatives, such as the taxation of high-net-worth individuals, beneficial ownership registries and corporate countryby-country reports, to be implemented at the international level.

At the local level, our interventions in fiscal reform debates in Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Nigeria have contributed to shaping legislative outcomes in a more progressive, rights-compliant direction.

As for our leadership in narrative change, we have a measurable track record in delivering tailored, innovative campaigns which have decisively expanded economic justice constituencies by appealing to a broader tent. In Latin America and the Caribbean, we created the ‘Date Cuenta’ campaign, coordinating over 40 organisations across civil society to deliver plain language, innovative messaging connecting progressive fiscal reforms to the financing of health, education and social protection. ‘Date Cuenta’ generated over 55 original campaign messages that were tailored to the realities of seven priority countries (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Honduras) and disseminated in Spanish, Portuguese and English. In doing so, we convened more than 65 online co-creation workshops with partners, coordinating a unified communications strategy which combined digital outreach, press and media coverage, and collaboration with influencers. Ultimately, ‘Date Cuenta’ resulted in more than 60,000 interactions on social media, coverage in major regional and international media outlets, including El País, Deutsche Welle, Bloomberg and France 24, and the participation of at least 63 social media influencers through 58 dedicated publications. In collaboration with Fundación Gabo and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, we also organised a two-day workshop in Bogota with 20 journalists from 13 countries, building a regional network trained in a human rights-based approach to fiscal policy that has since generated published media coverage on outlets such as La Diaria, Ciper, El Diario Ar and Milenio. Through ‘Date Cuenta’ and our regional advocacy, we strengthened civil society engagement in key processes, including the Financing for Development track and FfD4, co-organised highlevel dialogues with states and civil society from Latin America and Africa.

What's next?

We will shape the UN Tax Convention and its Protocols so they embed human rights principles, and we will stay engaged through follow-up processes (including the expected Conference of the Parties) to support effective implementation. We will keep linking tax and climate finance so that new resources mobilised through fiscal cooperation are channelled to adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage, in line with UNFCCC commitments.

Public Services for Care Societies

We have translated participatory research into accountability and policy outcomes.

In Ivory Coast, our work with Mouvement Ivoirien des Droits Humains and affected communities since 2023 exposed how privatisation and lack of accountability restrict access to quality healthcare. It contributed to the closure of 1,022 illegal private health centres, an executive instrument strengthening the regulation of private hospitals across the country, and the creation of a permanent complaints management committee in healthcare through a bylaw issued by the prefect of Gagnoa. Partners engaged through this process also advanced concrete improvements at facility level: members of the Gagnoa Midwives Association who took part in the participatory action research pooled resources to renovate the neonatal unit of the Regional Hospital, and the Director of the Gagnoa General Hospital launched an action plan to expand services and improve patient reception, with the facility receiving the award for best hospital in the country in 2025.

In Kenya, our research with the Mathare Education Taskforce documented the absence of public schools and the expansion of private provision, evidencing impacts on households and caregivers and strengthening demands for free, quality public education. This work contributed to stronger community agency and collective organisation, alongside ongoing strategies ranging from communications to litigation to secure a public school in the area, some involving GI-ESCR and others led independently.

Across Africa, this work is complemented by a multi-country study examining the human rights implications of austerity in education and health, including how regressive fiscal policies, rising debt burdens and persistent underinvestment undermine the financing and delivery of public services.

In Latin America, from 29 November to 2 December 2021, over a thousand representatives from over one hundred countries, from grassroots movements, advocacy, human rights, and development organisations, feminist movements, trade unions, and other civil society organisations, met in Santiago, Chile, and virtually, to discuss the critical role of public services for our future. Following the meeting, the Santiago Declaration on Public Services was adopted to demand universal access to quality, gender-transformative and equitable public services as the foundation of a fair and just society.

We are currently advancing work on care systems, linking public services and fiscal justice through integrated research, advocacy and communications, including a regional campaign framing care as a collective responsibility requiring sustained public investment.

What's next?

In Ivory Coast, we will evaluate and strengthen the complaints management committee and position it as a replicable model for other health facilities. In Kenya, we will support the Mathare community to co-design a model public school for Mabatini and Ngei wards, grounded in human rights standards. Building on our multi-country austerity study, we will drive national advocacy on financing for education and health: advancing reforms in Ghana; launching a fiscal policy and public services financing agenda in Kenya through the CESCR process and targeted coalition work; and, in Nigeria, using the new tax acts in force since 1 January 2026 to catalyse a national accountability campaign for adequately funded, quality public services. In Latin America, we will amplify locally led care pilots across 8 countries and turn lessons into influence—advancing care policies that strengthen care organisations, protect care workers’ rights, support unpaid caregivers, include disability and family networks, and redistribute care more equitably.